Good Guy: Henry McLaughlin

McLaughlin fought the good fight for 32 years, serving as the leader of CVLAS since 1981. He is leaving to open a private practice in Richmond dedicated to helping people fight foreclosure.

Former first lady Anne Holton, herself a former legal aider, led a parade of speakers who praised McLaughlin and his work. Tom Slater, who will become president of the CVLAS board later this year, noted that McLaughlin spent his career “helping people achieve a better life.”

As an aside, it’s worth adding McLaughlin was one of Virginia Lawyers Weekly’s “Leaders in the Law” last fall; in fact, the Leaders Class of 2009 selected him as the “Leader of the Year.”

When given the chance to make remarks himself, McLaughlin simply gave a heartfelt thanks to everyone and chose instead to talk about the future of CVLAS, introducing Steve Dickinson, who will take over as executive director.

And perhaps true to form, on his last day at CVLAS, McLaughlin no doubt left the luncheon and went to his office to get back to work: Marty Wegbreit, senior managing attorney, noted that McLaughlin had a writ panel argument at 4:00 p.m. yesterday in which he would be “trying to save another homeowner from foreclosure.”